This week the intention was for the class to make photograms in the school and post them to me for development. Photograms are one of the earliest photographic processes. They use objects placed directly on photo-sensitive paper to create a contact print.

In preparation for this session Mrs Wilson did some test images in the store-room and posted them to me before Easter. The light sources were too strong and the images were almost black. I set up my dark room and did some experiments using different light sources, recording some infra-red videos to show the class the process in the darkroom but these didn’t work properly in the session so I took stills from the videos and used them instead to explain the process to the class.

I showed them some photograms by other artists and explained that this was a camera-less image.

One of the class thought that the image on the right had been painted with PVA glue. I explained that it was made with light on photo sensitive paper. Using the analogy of sunburn we talked about the idea of exposing photographic paper to light. Then we discussed the dark-room set-up and checked to see how they would set up their store to make photograms. They used an image of my set-up to figure out what equipment they would need.

I took them through the process step by step. Then the class selected objects to use for their photograms.

After this they took turns in pairs to go into the darkroom with Mrs Wilson. When each pair came out they gave feedback to the others to make the process smoother for them. They really enjoyed the work. Mrs Wilson said that she found it very calm and the children described the dark-room as cosy. The exposed paper was placed in a light tight envelope and posted to me. I waited with excitement for the parcel to arrive.